Something to Fight For (Naruto)

Confessing

Naruto woke up in a hospitable bed, slightly sore. Groaning, he sat up and stretched his arms above his head, yawning.

"I see you're awake." A voice stated from beside his bed.

"Whoa!" Naruto yelped, head snapping to his right. The Old Man was there, sitting in a chair by his bedside. "What do ya need, Old Man?" Naruto asked, head cocked to the side.

"Do you remember your fight with Haruka?" He asked solemnly, not even sighing at his nickname.

Nodding, Naruto thought back to before he passed out. He had beaten her to a pulp, and could distantly recall her saying something that he had felt was important. What it was, though, he wasn't sure. It probably wasn't that important if he forgot it so easily.

"Yeah, what about it?" He inquired, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

"Do you recall when she said that she had let others take their anger out on her before? The old man continued, frowning a bit.

Once the Old Man mentioned it, he could remember that. He had felt angry at the time, but now he just dismissed it. It was disconcerting, of course, but could have meant anything. Right?

"Yeah, yeah. What're you gettin' at, Old Man? I got things I need to do! Believe it!" Naruto groaned. He had to begin training for the next part of the exams! There was no doubt he was going to win, obviously, but it was always good to have a few tricks up his sleeve.

"You can spare a few minutes, Naruto. I have a story I need to tell you." The Old Man said, looking right into his eyes.

Settling back, Naruto nodded reluctantly. "Whatever, Old Man. What's it about?"

"It's about a girl and her brother, and how much she loves him..."

Haruka woke up in the hospital, feeling fuzzy. Her head lolled to the side to see an IV attached to her arm, most likely pumping her full of drugs. Clumsily, she pulled it out of her arm. She couldn't afford to be drugged when she had to keep her brother safe. Whoever he was going against in the exams may try and kill him beforehand to avoid the fight.

Her back was too tight for her to sit up at the moment, so she began healing her body. The doctors had only done the minimal work necessary to keep her alive as to save their energy for more pressing cases, so she still had broken bones and such.

After five minutes, she found that she didn't have enough chakra to finish the job. Hesitantly, she took a little out of her weights, feeling them lighten slightly. If she wasn't careful and took too much, the overload of chakra would burn her from the inside and kill her. She had planned to save them for self sacrificing jutsu needed in the future, but there would probably still be enough left if she only took the minimal amount needed.

Twenty minutes later, all of the injuries that were keeping her bed-ridden were gone and all that was left were some nasty bruises and general soreness. As she stood to leave, though, she was tackled by three blurs.

If she hadn't noticed the glint from the goggles on their heads, she might have accidentally hurt them. Instead, she allowed herself to be hugged by the Konohamaru Squad, as still as a statue.

"H-haruka! You're awake!" Moegi wailed, tears on her face. The boys were in better shape, but still had a few drops leak out of their eyes every now-and-again.

"Yes." Haruka stated, face impassive. "Do you know where Nii-san is?" She asked the small children.

"He's with the Old Man in his room. We're not allowed in until they're finished." Konohamru said, having composed himself.